West Ham starlet named to World U18 XI alongside Real Madrid and Milan youngsters

West Ham United’s Reece Oxford has been named to Marca’s World U18 XI today, alongside some other bright talents in football.

The 17-year-old England youth international broke onto the scene early this season and made his Premier League debut on the opening day at Arsenal where he earned rave reviews for his efforts against the likes of Mesut Ozil.

Oxford has found first-team opportunities hard to come by since then but did come off the bench in the Hammers’ last outing, a 5-1 win against Blackburn in the Emirates FA Cup 5th round.

The centre-half has been deployed mainly in defensive midfield during his fledgeling West Ham career but is seen as the ‘next Rio Ferdinand’ who also emerged from the famed West Ham academy.

The likes of Martin Odegaard of Real Madrid, Milan’s Gianluigi Donnarumma and Youri Tielemans of Anderlecht – two of European football’s most highly-rated prospects, are also in the team.

Oxford joins fellow England youth international in Liverpool’s Joe Gomez at the heart of the defence, with Chelsea’s Cristian Manea (on loan at Mouscron-Peruwelz) at right-back and Dominic Solanke (on loan at Vitesse Arnhem) as the main striker.